Brooklyn, N.Y. – Freshman Elizabeth Limonta (Stewart Manor, N.Y.) and sophomore Bridget Kelly (Farmington, Conn.) led four players in double-figures with 14 points apiece on Thursday as the Mount Saint Mary College Women's Basketball team posted a 70-61 road win at St. Joseph's-Brooklyn.
 
The Knights never trailed on Thursday and got off to a good start after scoring 12 of the first 13 points of the game to take a 12-1 advantage on a Limonta layup with 4:57 left in the first period. The Mount did not allow a field goal until the 4:42 mark of the opening stanza on its way to a 16-9 advantage after 10 minutes of play.
 
The Mount would move its lead back to 11 points, at 22-11, on a pair of Kelly free-throws early in the second quarter and jumped in front 26-11 on a Janae Graham (Orange, Conn.) jumper with just under six minutes left before halftime.
 
A Graham triple with 3:41 left in the second quarter gave the Knights a 31-16 lead before the Lady Bears closed the period on a 12-3 run to climb to within 34-28 heading into the intermission. Kellie O'Neill hit a three for St. Joseph's with 1:22 left in the quarter to close out the scoring in the frame as the Knights without a bucket over the final 1:34 of the half.
 
Coming out of the break, Mount Saint Mary quickly regained a double-figure advantage and used an 8-0 run to open the third quarter to build a 42-28 lead on a Megan Kerutis (Merrimack, N.H.) three-pointer.
 
The Mount would gain a lead of 17 points twice in the late stages of the third quarter before heading to the final stanza with a 55-39 lead following a Kassidy Hallum (Lake Grove, N.Y.) triple with three seconds left in the third.
 
Mount Saint Mary would maintain a double-figure advantage for much of the final quarter and jumped out to a game-high 18 point lead on a Jessica Rini (Seaford, N.Y.) bucket with just under five minutes left in regulation time.
 
The Lady Bears mounted a late comeback and got to within eight points on an Erica Eddy lay-in with 1:59 to play, but the Knights got a bucket from Rini and a pair of free-throws from Graham to spread its lead back to 12 points with 35 seconds left in the game.
 
The Knights finished the game shooting 43.8-percent from the floor with Limonta going 6-for-7 from the field on her way to a career-high point total to go along with 13 rebounds, which matches her career-high. She finished off a strong night with three assists and three blocks.
 
Kelly was also efficient from the floor, going 6-for-9, adding six rebounds and career-high five assists. Rini chipped in with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Kerutis posted 10 points, five boards and four assists. Freshman Kayla Cleare (West Hempstead, N.Y.) continued her strong work on the glass with 11 rebounds.
 
Mount Saint Mary held St. Joseph's to 31-percent shooting in the game and did not allow a second chance point to the Lady Bears, outscoring St. Joseph's 17-0 in second chance opportunities.
 
Thursday's win brings Mount Saint Mary to within a game of the .500 mark at 11-12 overall and moves it to 8-6 against league opponents. The Knights will close out the home schedule on Wednesday, February 17 when they play host to Purchase. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m.

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